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Interview: Corey Fryia talks Doctor Crowe, Kickstarter, and more

I spoke with Corey Fryia about his Kickstarter campaign that is going on right now, for his supernatural, pulp comic book Doctor Crowe. Great stuff, follow me past the jump.

The Gravy Age: Who or what is Doctor Crowe?

Corey Fryia: “Doctor Crowe” is a 4-issue, pulp/horror/adventure mini-series published 215 Ink. The character of Dr. Crowe was co-created by artist Matt Horak (The Covenant) and I. The mini-series follows the story of Dr. Victor Crowe, an infamous adventuring scientist; expert on the occult and all around-pulp hero who uses advanced technologies to battle gruesome, supernatural terrors across the globe. Each oversized issue is 28 pages long and features four separate, serial anthology-style adventures that pit Dr. Crowe and his allies against unique, otherworldly threats that must be eliminated at all costs.

TGA: In issue one, you have different art teams on each story, but they aren’t so wildly different that they look inconsistent. How did you decide who drew what pages, and were any adjustments made to play to the artists strengths?

CF: I’m fortunate to have collaborated with a number of talented creators on numerous short comics. I’ve also served as an editor on multiple comic book anthologies. Through my work on these projects I’ve made some really talented friends. When I decided on the serial anthology-style approach to “Doctor Crowe,” it just made sense to try to include as many of my talented artist, colorist and letterer friends as I possibly could. Including Matt Horak was a no-brainer. We co-created the character together and he was the artist on “Wretched,” the very first Dr. Crowe adventure. Matt’s art, Doug Garbark’s colors and Nic Shaw’s letters really set the tone for the rest of the “Doctor Crowe” adventures that followed.

When artists Tony Gregori and Karim Whalen were brought on board I had them both read over “Wretched” to get a sense of the universe that had been created. They are both incredibly talented and they both put their own unique spin on what had already been laid out for them. That being said, I made sure to give them as much freedom as they required in order to produce the best work possible. The same can be said for colorists Laura Lee and Josh Jensen.

When it came time to decide who would work on what story — it was honestly based on who was available at the time the scripts were completed. However, I will say that I was so impressed with what Tony and Josh did on “Beneath the Black” that I couldn’t help by reunite them for “Dreamwaker.”

TGA: The first issue has been funded, with more stretch goals to go, how many issues do you have planned?

CF: Currently, the plan is for four issues. However, I feel as if I could write an unlimited amount of Dr. Crowe mini-adventures. So if there demand is there then maybe we’ll see more stuff featuring Dr. Crowe beyond that. Who knows? You can never say never and I’d certainly love to revist the character beyond those four issues.

TGA: What is the hardest part of crowd funding a project? Just trying to get noticed in a sea of other comics?

CF: Everything. There is no one thing that you have to do in order to be succesful. It’s combination of little things that lead to success. and even then the success isn’t necessarily guaranteed either. Before launching my Kickstarter I had spent countless hours reading up on ComixTribe Kickstarter articles written by Tyler James and even studied some succesful Kickstarters that I thought did certain things well. I cherry picked some of those things, introduced some ideas of my own and did my best to combine them into one “super campaign.” It’s was a lot of work and when the project was funded in the first six hours I was thrilled to see that the work wasn’t for nothing. I’ve never been so humbled before in my entire life. I’m honestly still trying to figure out what exactly it was that I did right!

TGA: Any other projects your or the other contributors to the book have out now or coming soon that people can check out?

CF: I always have ideas floating around in my head, but currently my focus is on completing the “Doctor Crowe” mini-series and then exploring those other ideas. I do have an anthology project that I co-edited that currently running a Kickstarter. It is called “Out of the Blue: a Collection of Campfire Tales.” A lot of super talented creators worked on this book including “Doctor Crowe” artist Tony Gregori and colorist Josh Jensen. I highly recommend checking it out.

TGA: Last question, who would be the last man standing in an all out brawl, Doctor Crowe, Russell Crowe, Cameron Crowe, Crow T Robot, and Counting Crows?

You’d think that the Counting Crows would win because of their numbers, but based on their lead singers hair I’m going to say that they aren’t necessarily “tough.” Cameron Crowe would probably be the next one to drop out simply because he’d be too busy trying to figure out how to spin the brawl into his next dramedy. The next one to be knocked out would be Crow T Robot. He has a serious height disadvantage that would work against him. So that would leave Doctor Crowe to square off with Russell Crowe. Now Russell Crowe has been known to get a little angry and lash out throwing cell phones from time to time. Luckily, a cell phone is no match for Doctor Crowe and all his gadgets. So your winner and undisputed Crowe/Crow would certainly be Dr. Victor Crowe. I think that goes without saying. By the way, this is easily my favorite interview question that I have ever been asked. Kudos to that!

Thanks to Corey for sparing a little time to talk with TGA, the book is funded, but they are so close to hitting that first stretch goal. It really is a beautiful looking book, so if it sounds like something you would enjoy, check it out. And I second what he said about those ComixTribe Kickstarter articles by Tyler James.

As always, if you are a creator and you want to talk about your project, feel free to get in touch with us through the site or search for The Gravy Age all over.